Now, Danilo Valladares writing for IPS notes that Nicaragua officially disclaimed such an interpretation:
In a statement issued by Managua after their meeting, representatives of leftist parties, including the governing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) headed by Ortega, said they had decided "not to recognise the de facto government of Honduras."The IPS article also includes comments from Ángel Edmundo Orellana Mercado, who resigned his post in the Zelaya cabinet days before the coup, then refused to participate in the post-coup Congress in protest against its illegal actions on June 28. Orellana was the author of a series of important editorials contesting the innovative attempts by the de facto regime to retroactively cleanse the coup of the stain of illegality.
IPS notes that Orellana argued against too-easy agreement to reintegrate Honduras in regional organizations like SICA and the OAS. Commenting on the Truth Commission set up by the Lobo Sosa government as part of its attempt to gain re-admission into OAS, Orellana said
"A bad precedent could be set if the commitments outlined there are not fulfilled and everything that happened is simply pardoned".
This is, of course, precisely what has been set in motion by the Honduran Congress passing a decree granting amnesty for "political crimes", which has been criticized by legal experts.
The IPS story repeats the claim seen in most recent articles that only 30 countries world-wide have recognized the Honduran government. This is far less than the number of countries claimed by the Lobo Sosa administration.
Among the Central American countries, as it properly points out, only Nicaragua has so far refused to recognize Lobo Sosa's government. The newly elected president of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla, has gone even further than Oscar Arias, saying
"We will be advocating, as we have up to now, the full and total reincorporation of our beloved sister republic of Honduras in all of the region's bodies".
Mauricio Funes, president of El Salvador, is reported to have stated that "Honduras will be fully integrated in SICA" by its scheduled July 20 meeting.
Renzo Rosal, described as assistant director of the Central American Institute for Political Studies, is quoted in the IPS article as saying that before Honduras is re-admitted to SICA,
"Issues that should be discussed are the role of the Honduran army in a democratic society; the historical two-party system in Honduras; the reconstruction of the social fabric; and the role that the OAS and SICA should play to help solve conflicts like the one in Honduras".
That would seem a very ambitious agenda to complete before July 20. Notably, it is not within the charge of the Truth Commission, which has been explicitly warned off such fundamental areas of Honduran political life.
The closest approximation to this agenda is, in fact, the manifesto issued by the Frente Popular de Resistencia following the meeting it convened in La Esperanza earlier this spring, which also called for reconsidering the role of the army, the place of the historical two party system, and the reconstruction of the social fabric. Good ideas; maybe someone should invite the authors to the table for real dialogue.
Timing is everything: a new article in La Tribuna quotes Mario Canahuati as saying 70% of the countries that used to recognize Honduras have done so now.
ReplyDeleteCanahuati's count is 51 of 65 countries. He also said he expects to add 3 or 4 to the list this month.
The remainder of the article reiterates the pressure being brought to bear on Nicaragua to fall in line with other Central American countries and facilitate reintegration of Honduras in SICA.
Meanwhile, an editorial in El Tiempo reminds us that there is an easy discourse in Honduras against Nicaragua and El Salvador, with whom border conflicts have historically been intense, that is being dragged into the present situation. In the editorial, Juan Ramon Martinez calls for rejection of the "interference" of these countries-- and oh yes, of Venezuela. He claims that Nicaragua and El Salvador were involved in the conflict in the Bajo Aguan, echoing an ungrounded and dangerous argument floated by Honduran media to delegitimize Honduran campesinos.
I'd say no recognition from any country (or any more countries) until Lobo Sosa y cia do something to bring the actual and intellectual authors of the journalists' killings to justice - and for that matter, do something about the disgraceful homicide rate in Honduras...
ReplyDeleteI checked the press record, and as of today, while Porfirio Lobo Sosa's government has appointed a number of ambassadors, only Costa Rica has approve/accepted the appointed ambassador. All other ambassadors, including the ones for Colombia and Panama, are still pending approval of those countries.
ReplyDeleteBoth the US and Spain reportedly have rejected at least one nominee, and no ambassador is in place in either country 90 days after Lobo's inauguration.
Recognition is different than full diplomatic relations, apparently.